Conor Coady
Wolves captain Conor Coady has praised the work head coach Bruno Lage has done since his arrival in the summer. Lage took over at Molineux from fellow Portuguese Nuno Espirito Santo and has since reshaped the West Midlands club. Wolves are currently sixth in the Premier League and are only a point away from the Europa League places, currently occupied by Arsenal. Coady who is in his sixth season with the side has been one of the many players to oversee the transformation.
Conor Coady said: “It’s brilliant. Full credit to the manager. I’ll be honest, the manager has been brilliant since he came in – he’s got new ideas, new ways of playing but kind of sticking to what we know as well. In terms of the system, I think a lot of people just think, Wolves are playing three at the back, it’s exactly the same but it’s totally different, we’ve all had to change the way we do things and how we want to play. The boys up top have been brilliant because we’re trying to play a little bit more inside now, we’re trying to move the ball a little bit quicker and have a little bit more possession of the ball and as I mentioned, the gaffer has been brilliant with the everyday training.”
Discussing whether it was an easy transition from what the players had been accustomed to from Nuno’s four-year tenure at Molineux,
Conor Coady replied: “No, not at all. It’s not been easy because we’re trying to be a lot more aggressive. So it’s not easy, I don’t think it’s ever easy making a change in football because for one, you’ve got to be winning games and for two it’s the Premier League, it’s the best league in the world with the best players. So it’s never easy, but at the same time we’re really enjoying what he’s trying to do and how he’s trying to play.”
While the 45-year-old boss has been trying to implement new ideas to his players, he has also tried to work with what the players were already accustomed to from previous seasons. Coady however, believes that since Lage has brought in a unique way of approaching things, results have been positive as the Old Gold achieved an unbeaten run of five consecutive games and now sit just 10 points off leaders Chelsea.
Conor Coady said: “It’s what I’ve said before, it’s full credit to him. He’s a fantastic coach, he does absolutely everything. His attention to details with absolutely everything, we do a lot of meetings, where we go through everything, we go through clips, we watch clips on other teams. I think the analysis you go into and how you learn from those situations is brilliant so full credit to him and how he’s wanted to do it but he’s stuck to the same formation, the same way of doing things but then brought in new ways of actually playing and trying to find a little bit more of an inside game whilst also keeping the width at the same time.”
